Supporting device for ceramic ware



March 8, 1960 R. DOPERA SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR CERAMIC WARE Filed May 11, 1954 IN V EN TOR.

R D OPERA,

A TT'ORNE Y.

United States Patent SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR CERAMIC WARE Rudolph Dopera, El Monte, Calif.

Application May 11, 1954, Serial No. 428,938

1 Claim. (Cl. 25-153) This invention relates to devices for supporting ceramic ware during kiln firing and curing operations.

It is common practice for this purpose to provide a suitable base member, often referred to as a setter, on which smaller elements, usually termed stilts, are placed and the ceramic article is placed on these stilts. Each of these elements generally are made with a flat bottom surface from which the element rises to form a pointed apex, or a small pointed stud may be vertically seated therein. Many thousands of these elements are daily placed on their bases and due to lack of care or because it is not possible to keep the elements in view when the article is quickly set therein, it is frequently found that some element, or elements, may become tilted on its side during this operation. Such tilted element will adhere to the enameled surface of the ware and so spoil the appearance thereof In other cases, where the supporting element is of a ceramic composition, it is found that the heat at times will warp the element to cause it to rock on its base suificiently to mar the enameled surface of the ceramic ware supported thereon.

It is in view of the foregoing the object of the present invention to provide a form of supporting element which will always rest securely on its base and will not rock on the base when the ceramic article is placed thereon. A further object is to provide a supporting element which may be depended upon correctly to support the ceramic ware no matter which supporting surface thereof is turned up.

These and other objects of the invention together with the many advantageous features thereof will become apparent from the following detailed description and by referring to the accompanying drawings in which preferred forms of the invention are illustrated.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a stilt of this invention wherein the shaded area is one side of the stilt;

Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the use of the stilts as shown in Fig. 1 in supporting an article of ceramic ware.

The device of the invention, in its simplest form is, in Fig. 1, shown to consist of a triangular, pyramidal support element or stilt 1, which may be placed on a base, or setter 2 of the type commonly employed in ceramic ware kiln drying operations. The important feature of this support is that it is symmetrical, the result being that no matter how it is turned, when placed on the base 2, the apex of the element will assume the same position above the base. Another important point is that all four inclined side surfaces of the element are concavely recessed, as indicated at 1",

2,927,362 Patented Mar. 8, 1960 "ice thereby to make certain that the element will always rest securely on three points. Had the four sides of the element remained flat and if some foreign matter should happen to lie on the base, it is seen that the element would not rest securely on the base but be subject to rocking movement which would cause the pointed apex thereof to shift on the surface of the article supported and so to scratch the enamel coating thereof.

The support element may be of a ceramic composition and will give satisfactory service over a long period of time but, if desired, harder and more enduring, heat resisting material may be used.

It is seen from the foregoing description that i have provided a very simple form of ceramic ware supporting element which will rest firmly on the base used no matter which way it is turned and without danger of rocking on the base This type of base may be depended upon to support smaller articles of ceramic ware in which the extent of possible shrinkage is so minute that the efiect thereof is not noticeable in the kiln heated ware. Supporting elements of this type possess the additional advantage that heat can circulate freely both above and below as well as around the element. The element is for this reason not subjected to strains tending to warp it.

in ceramic establishments where great quantities of freshly enameled ware are manually mounted on stilts of continuously moving setters, or bases, in rapid succession, it is often found that drippings from the ware will land on the base, if the ware reaches the space above the base before another workman has completed the mounting of the stilts thereon. This is another important reason for point contact with the base as well as with the ware. Had the four sides of the stilt 1 been fiat, contact of one of its sides with a few drops of enamel on the base would cause the stilt to stick so tightly to the base, after passing through the kiln that it could not be removed therefrom without destroying the utility of the parts.

I claim:

A one-piece element seatable on a base to support an article of ceramic ware, the element being triangular and symmetrically pyramidal in outline and having concavely recessed side surfaces, the four points of the pyramid projecting beyond the body thereof, the element, in any Way it is turned, coming to rest on the base on three points, the fourth point rising vertically from the center of the element to support the ceramic article.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 39,356 Pointon July 28, 1863 523,928 Brunt July 31, 1894 927,728 Jackson July 13, 1909 1,023,982 Barnes Apr. 23, 1912 1,308,253 Oftedahl July 1, 1919 1,565,301 Andrae Dec. 15, 1925 1,631,827 Lautagne June 7, 1927 2,530,088 Smith Nov. 14, 1950 2,555,222 Coleman et a1. May 29, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 28,425 Great Britain Dec. 10, 1913 56,257 Denmark June 6, 1939 

